The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held on
November 27, 1924, in New York City, and was originally
called the Macy’s Christmas Parade.

Organized by Macy’s employees to celebrate the opening
of their new flagship store, the event featured floats,
professional bands, and live animals borrowed from the
Central Park Zoo, concluding with Santa Claus arriving
at Herald Square.

Santa in his Sleigh at the first Macy’s Christmas Parade.

Menswear in the J.C. Penney catalog. 

James Cash Penney Jr.
(September 16, 1875 – February 12, 1971)

James Penny Jr. was a businessman and
entrepreneur who founded the JCPenney
stores in 1902.

J. C. Penney mother store in Kemmerer, Wyoming.

The F. W. Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth’s or Woolworth) was a retail company and one of the original pioneers
of the five-and-dime store. It was among the most successful
American and international five-and-dime businesses, setting
trends and creating the modern retail model that stores follow
worldwide today.

The first Woolworth store was opened by Frank Winfield Woolworth
on February 22, 1879, as “Woolworth’s Great Five Cent Store” in
Utica, New York. Though it initially appeared to be successful, the
store soon failed. When Woolworth searched for a new location,
a friend suggested Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Using the sign from
the Utica store, Woolworth opened his first successful “Woolworth’s Great Five Cent Store” on July 18, 1879, in Lancaster. He brought
his brother, Charles Sumner Woolworth, into the business.

The two brothers pioneered and developed merchandising, direct purchasing, sales, and customer service practices commonly
used today.

Frank Winfield Woolworth
(April 13, 1852 – April 8, 1919)

Camille Bohannon

It began on this day in 1965.

President Ronald Reagan’s bombing Russia joke during a voice
test for a political advertisement causes a Cold War flap on this
day in 1984.

On this day in 1992, in Bloomington, MN, the Mall of America
opened. It was the largest shopping mall in the United States.

Haley’s photo from his Service Record.

Alexander Murray Palmer "Alex" Haley
(August 11, 1921 – February 10, 1992)

Paul Jackson Pollock (January 28, 1912 – August 11, 1956)

Jackson Pollock was one of the greatest artists of his generation, well known
for his innovative style of drip painting (shown below). He died at the age of
44 after driving drunk and crashing into a tree in New York.